Trichilia aquifolia

  • Authority

    Pennington, Terence D. 1981. Meliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 1-359, 418-449, 459-470. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Meliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Trichilia aquifolia

  • Type

    Type. Plumier, Pl. Amer., ed. Burman 5: 109, t. 118, fig. 2. 1757. (Plumier s unpublished manuscripts were seen and cited by Linnaeus.)

  • Synonyms

    Ilex cuneifolia L., Trichilia cuneifolia Pulle

  • Description

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    Species Description - Young branches appressed puberulous soon glabrous, greyish-white, rough, lenticellate. Bud scales absent. Leaves imparipinnate or trifoliolate, 3-5 cm long; petiole and rhachis semiterete, minutely puberulous; petiolule ca. 0.5 mm long. Leaflets opposite or alternate, 3-7, broadly cuneiform (obtriangular), apex acute and with the 2 lateral lobes produced into a sharp spine 2-3 mm long, base narrowly cuneate, coriaceous, 3.5-5[4.1] cm long, 3.5-4[3.6] cm broad, glabrous, not glandular-punctate or -striate; venation craspedodromous with a prominent marginal vein, midrib flat or slightly sunken; secondaries 10-12 on either side of midrib, spreading at right angles or very shallowly ascending, straight or slightly arcuate, parallel; intersecondaries moderately prominent; tertiary reticulum prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence axillary, 2.5-4 cm long, a slender few-flowered thyrse, appressed puberulous; pedicel 0.5-1.25 mm long. Calyx patelliform or shallowly cyathiform, 0.5-1 mm long, with 5 shallow, obtuse to short attenuate lobes ca. 1/2 length of calyx, appressed puberulous. Petals 5, free or fused ca. 1/4 their length, valvate, 3-3.5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm broad, narrowly lanceolate, apex acute, hooded, appressed puberulous with dibrachiate or medifixed hairs outside, glabrous inside. Staminal tube short cylindrical, 2-2.5 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm broad; filaments completely fused, margin with 10 short acute lobes alternating with anthers and 1/3-1/2 their length, glabrous; anthers 10, ca. 1 mm long, glabrous. Nectary absent. Ovary ovoid 3(-4)-locular, loculi with 2 collateral ovules, short appressed pubescent or strigose; style short, stout, glabrous at apex; style-head capitate, equalling base of anthers. Capsule oblong, apex and base rounded, verrucose, sparsely puberulous, ca. 1.6 cm long, 1 cm broad, 3-valved; pericarp 1-1.5 mm thick; endocarp cartilaginous. Seed solitary, ca. 0.7 cm long, 0.4 cm broad (excluding arillode), completely surrounded by a thick fleshy 3-partite arillode which is free except for a thin line of attachment from micropyle to chalaza; seed coat thin, soft. Embryo with plano-convex, collateral cotyledons; radicle apical, included. Endosperm absent.

  • Discussion

    Relationships

    Relationships of T. aquifolia, T. stenophylla, T. monacantha, T. triacantha and T. pungens. The relationships of the five species of Trichilia with spinous leaflets are considered together as they are closely related and form a tight group without any near relatives. Unfortunately the fruit of all but one (T. aquifolia) is unknown and fertile flowering material is scant so a complete account of the group is not possible. Nevertheless, some general ideas on their affinities can be stated.

    The floral structure of all five is similar and resembles that of many species in sect. Moschoxylum e.g. the widespread T. quadrijuga. The characters they share with these species are: corolla of 4-5, free or slightly fused, valvate petals; filaments completely united, with short acute lobes alternating with the anthers; 810 anthers; absence of nectary; ovary 3-locular; and locules with 2 collateral ovules. The fruit and seed structure of T. aquifolia is also similar to that of many species of sect. Moschoxylum. In addition, all 5 species share the characteristic dibrachiate or medifixed indumentum present in T. quadrijuga and other species of the section. It is present in minute amounts on the lower leaf surface and in some species on the corolla.

    Although the flowers and fruit show little modification from the general pattern of many mainland species, the leaves have undergone pronounced xeromorphic adaptation without parallel elsewhere in the family. The thick coriaceous, spiny leaflets, often borne on a greatly reduced leaf axis, give this group of species the general appearance of some species of Berberis rather than that of any Meliaceae.

    Trichilia reticulata shares some of the vegetative characters of the spiny species such as the digitate leaves and craspedodromous venation. It is through this species, and the less extreme T. trachyantha, that the spiny species are linked to more normal species of the section.

    In the absence of information on the fruit, all the specific differences reside in the structure and disposition of the leaflets. Flowering material is so limited that the few minor differences in floral structure cannot be assessed at present.

    The distribution of each of them is also notable, all except one occurring either on a single island or in only one country. Their distributions and morphological differences are shown in Table II.

    Field Characters: A shrub or small tree to 5 m high. Flowers white to brownish produced in March and April and again in August. The only known fruiting record is in March.

  • Common Names

    Chicharrón

  • Distribution

    Confined to Hispaniola where it occurs in rocky ravines and dry scrub areas.

    Haiti South America|